Knitted pile fabrics



cs. E. HERRNSTADT 2,934,924

KNITTED PILE FABRICS May 3, 1960 Filed Oct. 18, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS May 3, 1960 G. .E. HERRNSTADT KNITTED PILE FABRICS Filed Oct. 18, 1957 W N GE 5 E Q \S 4 1 A! A! v I=! BY M y 1960 G. E. HERRNSTADT 2,934,924

KNITTED PILE FABRICS Filed Oct. 18, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. 3.

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I KNITTED PILE FABRICS Filed Oct. 18, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INV EN TOR.

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Gmdcl a AQWM is @Q S nite KNITTED PHJE FABRICS -Gerald E. Herrnstadt, Cornwall,fN.Y., assignor to The Firth Carpet Company, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Application: October 18, 1957, Serial. No. 691,169 8 Claims. (CL'66-191) This invention relates to a knitted pile fabric cornprising a novel construction. The principles thereof are applicable to many types of fabrics but they are especially adapted to those pile fabrics which are'made on flat bed knitting machines.

Especially, the-construction of this invention is an improvement over prior constructions such as those disclosed in US. Patent 2,476,153 granted to Little et al.,

, and US. Patent 2,531,718 granted to Rice or U.S.P-at- 'ent 2,718,132 granted to Herrnstadt. While all'three patents mentioned are different in their structure and are an improvement, one over the other respectively, they have one thing in common: their pile loops are held by-two or more chain stitches which may or may not be adjacent to each other.

Therefore, it is a primary object of this invention to produce on a form of knitting machine a fabric in which weft filling yarn for the back and face yarn for the pile surface are tightly bound'together by knitting stitch warps in such a manner that given rows of warps'hold'within givencourses, or alternate courses, a single loop.

Another important object of this invention resides in the provision of a knitted pile broadloom fabricin' which the back yarn is continuously working in a sidewise,'back and forth movement as in'the'priorart, but wherein the loop or pile construction travels back and forth across the same chain stitch within the same course being extended sidewise or upward a given distance from the weft backing in order to form a definite loop.

A. further object of this invention is to enable the manufacture of pile fabrics using highly twisted yarns to such anadvantage so as to have the raised pile yarn curl into agroup of single strands having the appearance of one end of yarn.

Another object of this invention is to produce onfthe knitting machine of the type described, upholstery fabrics being a counterpart to woven fabrics of this type.

A further object of this invention is to manufacture smooth, type plushes or velvets respectively which have freely extending tuft legs for facilitating finishing and shearing procedure. a

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will be more fully understood from the followingv detailed description of a preferred embodiment, and modifications thereof, when taken'in connection with the accompanyingdrawings in which: I

Fig. 1 is a semi-diagrammaticplan view of "a related portion of the fabric construction, limited because the backing material has been omitted;

States 'bights of said warp stitches.

2334324 Patented May 3, "1960 4 ice "explanation;

'Fig. 3 is another semi-diagrammatic plan view illustrating a preferred embodiment and showing the interengagement ofall yarns forming the novel pile fabric;

Fig.4 is a view'like that of Fig. 3 in Which'the'pile faceyarn loops have been cut; and i 'Fig. 5 is a semidiagrammatic plan view illustrating another embodiment wherein the pile yarns'extend back and forth over a greater number'of'chain'stitch warps than do the base wefts.

The novel constructions and advantages of the knitted pile fabic will now be explained with particular reference to the complete arrangement as illustrated in Fig. 3. In this figure the warp lines of knitting stitches 11 12 and 13 are arranged vertically. The formation of the loop stitches of the parallel, warpwise arrangement-is clearly shown in this-figure and also in Figs. 1, 2 and 4, as conventional knit chain stitches 11, which are preferably of strong cotton, but may also be .of rayon, cotton, manmade fibres, jute or even wool.

In Fig. 2 a series of backing threads 19, 20, 21, 22, 2'3, 24 and 25 of weft formation are indicated by solid lines representative of back filling yarn. These are interlaced by lines of warp stitches 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15, andare so interconnected that they are bound into the I As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the face yarn 31, in forming loops, travels transversely throughthe chain .stitch bight of the formation of warp linell and forms a loop.35 within course 1, and returns 1within the same chain stitch through the same bight before the stitching itself iscompleted so that legs 36-36 of loop 35 are held by the same stitch. Before the chain stitch of each given warp line is formed the pile face yarns 31, 32 and 33 ha e been extended a given legth bysinkers, pins,'hooks or other known methods on the given'sides of theirrespective chain stitches 11, 12 and 13, and are held within such extended form as the pile face 'yarn itself travels beyond and to the opposite side of the chain stitch in which the lengths of the face yarn are held. Only then a stitch of the warp itself is completed and the extended form of the weft pile yarn released. Therefore, by application of this method of creating the pile face of the fabric, all pile yarns will lie in one direction because they are all formed on the same side'of the respective lines of warp stitches.

The excessive lengths .of pile face yarn on one side :of the warp stitch will create a loop; and the closer the gauge ofthe warp stitches the more upright these loops will stand. It has been found that by making these loops of fairly close gauge in fine fabrics with fine yarn, a frieze type texture can be achieved such as is made in woven fabrics for upholstery. Also, if a coarser gauge is used with strong yarn'for warp stitches and heavy plied yarn for the pile surface loops, a floor covering fabric such, as is 'known as .boucl or loop type velvet, or some of the novelty carpets presently in demand in the woven field can be made by this process.

However, loop fabrics alone are not the only thing that can be produced by this invention. As shown in Fig. 4,

. when all the loops are cut, a very fine pile surface will In the fabric construct tion described herein and particularly shown in Fig. 4, the

loop, pror to being cut, extends freely and loosely between two adjacent lines of warp stitches, e.g., 11 and 12, and 12 and 13, and both ends of the loop are held within the same line of Warp stitches. Therefore, when this loop is out both tuft legs so severed now extend freely between two adjacent rows of warp stitches and give a coverage which is complete. This coverage can be extended further in the case of wool and similar pile yarn fabrics when steam is used in the finishing process, so that the cut ends of thetufts blossom out and thereby give additional coverage, which is believed to be as good as can be found in any woven fabrics.

Should more colors than one be used in the weft bar for the pile yarn in flat bed knitting machines, these colors can be staggered in order to appear in different spaces between adjacent warp stitch lines. The method preferred for that purpose is that described in Herrnstadt US. Patent 2,718,132, with the only difference being that two legs of the loop will be left back in their original warp stitch to be held as described herein, and thereafter, in the following or given courses, the pile face yarn will be transferred into rows wherein the yarns are intended to appear on the surface of the fabric.

Certain problems as to tuft bind of the pile yarn were encountered when first reducing this development to practice. First, since the tuft legs of pile loops are held only by one warp stitch in one course, the forming of the loop in the following course tends 'to decrease the size of the prior course loop. This was easily overcome by adjusting the given height of the pile by allowing for such reduction bythe loop formed in the prior course. Furthermore, in order to sell such fabrics commercially much care has to be taken to insure that the loops do not pull out in any given row of warp stitches. This can best be done by sizing the backing of the finished product with a compound of rubber or thermoplastic adhesive which will not only serve as a final security for locking in the tufts of the pile yarn, but also for stiffening the back and giving it hand.

The advantage of making fabrics of this type in a knitting machine lies in the fact that knitting is more rapid than most forms of weaving. A pile fabric construction such as described herein will do much to produce fabrics and textures that do not deviate in the end product from their woven counterparts.

Now that there has been described loop fabrics and cut pile fabrics of this development, it should be pointed out that an intermingling of loop and cut pile is also possible. In order to achieve a texture deviating from the plain fabric, loop and cut pile can be alternated in successive courses, or just given numbers of the loops may be cut and others left in their original form. If this is done in fine gauge fabrics with fairly low pile, corduroy or corded velveteen may be produced by this process by having given vertical rows or even alternate rows, cut and uncut, respectively. In upholstery fabrics as well as in floor coverings fabrics staggered in groups of cut pile and loop pile, respectively will give appearances such as are achieved in the woven field on Wilton or velvet looms.

The development of this pile fabric wherein a single loop is formed and held within a single line of warp stitches may also be practiced for a knitted pile fabric which comprises an indirect design forming construction. In order to do so it is best to refer to Herrnstadt US. Patent 2,718,132 in which the face yarns are shifted sidewise across a given number of chain stitches and, thereafter, are returned. In said prior patent the pile loops are disposed between two adjacent warp lines of stitches and each leg of each pile loop or tuft is held by chain stitches of separate parallel warp lines. To apply loops or tuft legs of cut pile to this prior cited construction wherein these loops or tufts are held by chain stitches to the pile fabric within a' single line of warp ends to the knitted pile fabric constructions disclosed herein, reference is made to Fig. 5 wherein the face yarn 51 is shifted side wise across a plurality of warp lines of stitches 60-64, in this case across one more warp line of stitches than the base wefts 52, thereby creating a dead bulk of yarn which does not rise until it appears in the given space where a loop 53 is about to be formed. After the loop is held the face yarn is shifted back to the last warp end so that the legs 54, 54 of the pile loop 53 are both held within the same warp stitch and, thereafter, is shifted sidewise to the next given course and row as a pattern or design may require.

While a preferred embodiment and several modifications of the knitted pile fabric of this invention have been described in detail, it will be apparent to those skilled in this art that variations and changes can be made without departing from the inventive principles and the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus disclosed my invention and the preferred manner of practicing same, what I claim as novel and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A pile fabric of knitted construction comprising a flatly knitted base formed by wefts extending individually back and forth laterally over a plurality of chain stitch warps in successive courses and having superimposed thereon pile face yarns forming raised loop tufts, each of said raised tufts being bound to the weft base by an individual chain stitch of the chain stitch warps, with each pile loop yarn in raised form extending towards the base with two ends and said ends being bound in only by a single chain stitch of a single warp thread on the flatly knitted base.

2. A pile fabric of knitted construction comprising a flatly knitted base formed by wefts extending back and forth laterally over a plurality of chain stitch warps in successive courses and having superimposed thereon pile face yarns forming raised loop tufts, said pile yarns being individual pile ends each 'loop of which is individually bound into an individual chain stitch of a designated row of warp stitches at all times, the loops of which are only bound within that line of warp stitches into which it was originally bound, and the line of chain stitches wherein the individual pile face yarn ends are bound also interlaced with the base wefts.

3. The pile fabric of claim 2 wherein some at least of the loop tufts have been severed to provide a cut pile formation.

4. A knitted pile fabric floor covering having chain stitch warps, base wefts extending individually back and forth across at least three of said chain stitch warps, and face pile yarns extending back and forth laterally in successive courses across a greater number of chain stitch warps than do the individual base wefts, said face yarns forming raised tufts in each course after having been extended laterally across a number of chain stitch warps, and said raised tufts being bound in only by a single chain stitch so as to have both legs of the tufts within the same chain stitch of the same warp end, and said base wefts and face pile yarns passing through the bights of those chain stitches across which they extend and being bound therein.

5. A knitted. pile fabric floor covering of claim 4 in which at least some of the pile has been severed to provide a cut pile formation. a

6. A knitted pile fabric floor covering having chain stitch warps, base wefts extending back and forth across a plurality of chain stitch warps, and face pile yarns extending back and forth laterally in successive courses across a greater number of chain stitch warps than do the basewefts, said face yarns forming raised loops in each course after having been extended laterally across a number of chain stitch warps, each of said loops being bound in by a single chain stitch so as to have both legs of the loop within the same chain stitch, said base wefts and face pile yarns passing through the bights of those chain stitches across which they extend and being bound 7 therein.

7. A knitted pile fabric of claim 6 wherein the pile loops are cut in the center of the loops to provide a plush type surface.

8. A knitted pile fabric floor covering having spaced parallel chain stitch warps with the stitches thereof aligned transversely in courses, base wefts extending individually back and forth across a plurality of chain stitch warps in successive courses, and face pile yarn loops individually extending from chain stitches within each course; each looph'aving both legs bound by only one stitch.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,396,525 Newman Mar. 12, 1946 2,435,897 Newman Feb. 10, 1948 2,541,499 Carney Feb. 13, 1951 2,718,132 Herrnstadt Sept. 20, 1955 

